Pathways & Progressions
With the season now up and running Academy Manager Dan Harris updates us on the latest news from the u7s-u23s Academy programme:
"Over the last six months we have worked hard, as an Academy, to bring a clear purpose and direction to the work that we do. Our core focus is to “Invest in the lives of young footballers” and at the heart of this is ensuring that there is pathway for every young man in our programme to reach their full potential.
With this in mind, I would like to wish Canice Carroll every success as he begins life at Brentford after his move at the end of the transfer window. Canice is a local lad who came through the age-group system here at Oxford United and now has the opportunity to further his career at a higher level – everyone in the Academy wishes him well and we look forward to following his progress over the coming years.
In a similar vein seeing another Academy graduate, Malachi Napa, go out on loan to League Two side Macclesfield is another positive step for the programme. For Malachi the chance to play competitive games in the League at 19 years old can only help his development and, alongside the new u23s programme, loan moves of this kind ensure that we as a club can tailor the pathway opportunities for different lads in different ways.
Our u18s and u16s kicked off their competitive league programme last week with strong performances against a pair of high quality Bournemouth sides – being able to dominate games against Premier League opposition is a really positive sign for the future as we look to create pathways for the next group of players to progress through into the 1st team.
Off the field we would like to thank Oxford Brookes University who we are continuing to build a strong relationship with as the season progresses. Our u18s and u23s have been using their performance gym over the last few weeks with Head of Academy Sports Science, Holly Pickett and it’s also been great to see two placement physio students from Oxford Brookes working with our u18s physio Ed Evans. Building links with educational establishments across the county feeds into one of our four key pillars and we’re committed to growing these links over the coming years."
Make sure you follow the Official Academy Twitter feed @AcademyOUFC to stay up to date with all the Youth Development news here at Oxford United.
Proud History: Bright Future